After a determined performance to defeat Belgium 2-1 in a tight Euro 2020 quarter-final in Munich, Italy was deservedly crowned the winners.Nicolo Barella's opening goal and Lorenzo Insigne’s spectacular strike gave rise to a two-goal advantage before Romelu Lukaku equalised just before the half-time break in a thrilling match.Lukaku was close to equalizing, and Belgium had Kevin De Bruyne on pitch, but the second goal would not come.Italy can look forward at a semifinal showdown against Spain at Wembley, while Belgium will wonder if the moment is over for the so-called golden age.It happened!Image: Nicolo Barrella opened scoring for Italy against BelgiumLukaku had warned of his threat early in the first moments, but it was Italy that looked like he was leading the charge through Leonardo Bonucci, only for VAR not to deny him.The defender diverted a ball to the net at the far side and celebrated loudly, but replays revealed that there was a touch by Giovanni Di Lorenzo which caused him to be offside.Italy was the more fluid team, but De Bruyne quickly reminded of the threat - his left footed shot drawing a spectacular save from Gianluigi Donarumma.Lukaku tried to score a goal into the corner, but Donnarumma rose to the occasion.These saves were even more important when Italy punished Belgium at one end with a goal which rewarded their entrepreneurial spirit in the last third of the pitch.Marco Verratti gave the ball to Barella in the area. The Inter midfielder managed to wiggle free from two defenders and then lashed the ball into Thibaut Courtois’ net.Italy continued to push forward and doubled their advantage just before the half-time break thanks to Insigne's brilliant finish as he whipped it into the top corner.Team news Kevin De Bruyne was able to recover from an injury which saw him substituted against Portugal. There was one change to the team, however. The injured Eden Hazard was replaced by teenager Jeremy Doku and not Yannick Carrasco.Italy welcomed back Giorgio Chiellini, the captain of the defense after he was absent for two games due to a thigh injury. Federico Chiesa, who is in top form, replaced Domenico Berardi as attack player. Manuel Locatelli was again out of place in midfield.The world's top-ranked teams were facing a difficult time at the moment, but Jeremy Doku, a teenager who was unexpectedly replaced by Eden Hazard, won a penalty immediately.Although Di Lorenzo's push was minimal, Doku's play direct won it. Lukaku converted the spot-kick and halved Italy's lead to give Belgium hope going into the final period.In the second half, the pattern was repeated with Italy playing brighter football, but Belgium trying to counter-attack. Lukaku, who was chasing his fifth goal in the tournament, came within a minute of equalizing.Image: Spain will face Italy in Tuesday's semi-finalsDoku, an impressive player, passed De Bruyne a pass and his low cross found De Bruyne at the far post. However, Leonardo Spinazzola blocked his attempt near the goal line.Belgium attempted to gain momentum in the final stages, but Italy were able disrupt their rhythm by a series substitutions, including Spinazzola, who was injured and distraught.De Bruyne, and all the rest, became increasingly frustrated as tournament elimination loomed – and the realization that this group of players may have lost their best chance of glory.Italy faces greater challenges.Managers' commentsRoberto Martinez, Belgium's head coach: "The emotions are what you can really imagine, really – sadness and disappointment - because these players do not deserve to be out this tournament."They have done an amazing job in preparing us to take each step, day by day, since the beginning of this tournament. Unfortunately, we were faced with an extremely strong side (Italy) today. It was two very strong teams in the knockout phase. Unfortunately, our margins were not favorable."Roberto Mancini, Italy's head coach: "I don’t think we suffered too much during any moment of this game. You need to win against a team like Belgium. This is exactly what happened today."We scored two, but we could have scored more. The victory was well deserved. Spain is next, but it gets more difficult the further you go. We want to be proud of our performance tonight and celebrate our victory.Opta statsImage: Leonardo Bonucci celebrates Gianluigi DonrummaItaly has reached the semifinals of a major tournament (World Cup/EUROs), for the 12th consecutive time. Germany is the only European country to have done so more (20 times). They have advanced from each of their four previous semi-finals.Italy has extended their longest unbeaten streak to 32 games (W27D5) and won each of the 13 previous matches.Belgium has faced Italy more times in major international tournaments (World Cup/EUROs), without winning than any other team (5). Italy, however, has only faced Germany (9 times) more often at the same tournaments and without losing.Roberto Mancini, Italy's coach, became the second coach to win all five of his competition finals matches after Michel Hidalgo (who won all five matches as France coach at the 1984 edition).It has won 15 of the last 15 European Championship matches including the qualifying rounds. This is a competition record. Belgium had won 14 consecutive matches like this before today's defeat.Spain will face Italy in the semi-finals at Euro 2020 at Wembley, Tuesday 6 July.
